Archive Page 232
March 19th, 2017 by Brandon Peters
It sounds very silly to have expectations for or to be really looking forward to a film like Arsenal. A primarily straight to Blu-ray and DVD (I think it played a couple festivals) release where the leads are Adrien Grenier and Johnathon Schaech. And John Cusack, has been less of the kicker than ever in the past couple of years, looking unhappy stuck in some sort of slow rent action movie straight to video hell. The kicker here was someone also kind of stuck there, but who always commits; Nicolas Cage. This trailer actually brought the internet abuzz as he looked to be going full on Cage for this one and was resurreting his Deadfall past with “Eddie”. Maybe Cusack would find it in himself to bring it too. This looked like it could be bringing the right amount of crazy and silly to an otherwise tired looking story. Therein lies the potential I (And I was not alone) was seeing in this movie. Everything seemed like it was on the table, but would it actually pan out. Continue reading ‘Arsenal (Blu-ray Review)’
March 19th, 2017 by Brian White
I kind of wanted to try something new on the site here. Many years ago I became so smitten with the world of collecting (mostly Star Wars) that it got to the point of insanity when you have Master Replica lightsabers and Slave Leia’s in your kitchen, living room, office and basically anywhere you can think of because of lack of proper display space. Couple that with the expense of having to haul all of that crap half way across the country in a move from Ohio to Texas and I swore I’d never do it again. However, the itch has returned and has taught me a “valuable” lesson. Never say never. I quote the word valuable because let’s face it in order to really collect some cool items one must at least have some disposable income or else you’re very prone to go broke. I would say modern day, pop culture brands like Pop! Funko and Jada Metals in the Suicide Squad (mostly Harley Quinn) and Batman v Superman lineups have been my undoing. Thanks to them I’m once again a “Sucker For Pain.” My fiancee didn’t help stop my itch with all the wonderful toys she got me last Christmas. My co-worker has also been a bad influence too with all his collectibles he brings in. They both made me itchier. Ha ha. So that brings me to the reason we’re all gathered here today… Continue reading ‘DC Collectibles Suicide Squad Harley Quinn and Joker Statue (Review)’
March 17th, 2017 by Bron Anderson
This is just the kind of midnight movie I was waiting for at SXSW! Meatball Machine Kodoku has tons of ridiculous gore effects (actually 4 tons of fake blood were used on the film according to the director), an insane plot that doesn’t need to make any sense, and completely over-the-top action scenes. This is a direct sequel to 2005’s Meatball Machine from the same director, Yoshihiro Nishimura (Tokyo Gore Police), and by direct sequel I mean it shares almost the same exact plot as the original, but with better effects and a tighter plot (plot, in this case is a very loose interpretation of the term). This movie is a hilarious, blood-filled, wackily Japanese, complete crazefest of a blast! Continue reading ‘Meatball Machine Kodoku (SXSW Review)’
March 17th, 2017 by Jason Coleman
With a slight divine diversion last week, we’re back to the past picture prowess of all things 80’s – welcome to Forgotten Friday Flick! Today we’re heading down the road in one good-looking car from hell guaranteed to get your cinematic wheels turning. It’s a tasty terror tale ala one of the movie masters of suspense John Carpenter (we’re gonna be paying tribute to his work the next few weeks – deal with it!) that features an unusual relationship between a man and his…Plymouth Fury? Obsession, jealousy and plenty of car carnage awaits when you ride shotgun inside…Christine!
Continue reading ‘Forgotten Friday Flick – “Christine”’
March 17th, 2017 by Bron Anderson
When a person watches 23 films over 9 days, it can be difficult to find the time to write enough about all of them. Also, with over 150 different films to choose from, it is nearly impossible to pick all winners. I have tried to cover the bigger films of the festival this year and getting those reviews out has been a priority. However, I have seen a bunch that kinda fall into this middle ground that when I sit down to write about them, I can’t really find a lot to say… and then I have to rush out to catch another film back in downtown Austin. So, I have encapsulated (if I might borrow a term from my colleague on this site) some thoughts on the more average or somewhat bad films I have seen here in this post just to put the thoughts somewhere. Continue reading ‘The Good, The Meh, and The Messy Films of SXSW (SXSW Review)’
March 17th, 2017 by Jason Coleman
Indie films stretch vastly over high and low dog ratings this week – not to mention covering the full spectrum of genres to boot! Unlikely superheroes, ex-boyfriend and father bonding, sci-fi wackos, elder basketball star docs, horrific curses, deadly office games and damaged gals seeking revenge fill out the seven films that make up the Encapsulated Movie Reviews this week. Check out the cinematic skinny on They Call Me Jeeg, All Nighter, Atomica, Coming Back To The Hoop, Johnny Frank Garrett’s Last Word, The Belko Experiment and Psychos below!
Continue reading ‘Encapsulated Movie Reviews – Seven New Indie Titles’
March 17th, 2017 by Bron Anderson
The Big Sick is an uproariously funny comedy that had to tread a very difficult line since a major portion of the film takes place in a hospital and has one of the major characters in a coma. A film written by and starring Kumail Nanjiani (“Silicon Valley”), directed by Michael Showalter (Wet Hot American Summer), and produced by Judd Apatow (Trainwreck) should, on those names alone, have enough buy-in to get lovers of comedy into the theater. Once in the theater, though, this movie will surprise audiences with its tenderness and heart and then leave them straining to hear lines as laughter fills the auditorium. A tone-perfect, Apatow-style rom-COM, The Big Sick will be the summer date movie that has everyone falling out of their seats.
Continue reading ‘The Big Sick (SXSW Review)’
March 17th, 2017 by Bron Anderson
Where Straight Outta Compton showed the hard-edge, down and dirty, fighting-for-justice story of NWA, G-Funk, in a way that somewhat mirrors the musical sound itself, documents the smoother and sweeter turn that Warren G, Snoop Dogg, and Nate Dogg brought to West Coast hip-hop music in the early 90s. First time director Karam Gill and producer Warren G assembled some big musical names from the era to tell a number of entertaining stories or drop memorable lines that make the film highly entertaining and a must watch for any fan of music from that time period. The music in the background of these interviews and clips should be enough to get someone in the door, but the overall story is well crafted, with an infectiously optimistic undercurrent that stands on its own. Continue reading ‘G-Funk (SXSW Review)’
March 16th, 2017 by Brandon Peters
In terms of his directorial output, Ben Affleck has had a perfect track record with me. Gone Baby Gone was one hell of a debut for him and surprisingly his least talked about film in his director catalog (It shouldn’t be, its fantastic). That film was based on a novel by Dennis Lehane, which is a well Affleck is seemingly returning to by adapting another one of his books into Live By Night. For critical reception, its been a rough year for Ben Affleck, with Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice being thrashed (Though he was almost praised across the board for it) and The Accountant getting a mediocre reception (Though being a rock solid hit). It seemed like, well, at least he has his own film to end the year on. A Ben Affleck film was something we thought we could count on. Though, disappointingly, he’d end the year on a huge double whammy, with more awful reviews and a having his film totally bomb at the box office. This, being the film that followed up his widely praised and Academy Award winner for best picture, Argo. Continue reading ‘Live By Night (Blu-ray Review)’
March 16th, 2017 by Aaron Neuwirth
Say whatever you want about the reasoning, but director Danny Boyle has finally determined it was time to make his sequel to Trainspotting. While Shallow Grave was the debut for Boyle, Ewan McGregor and writer John Hodge, Trainspotting was their breakout hit from back in 1996. Now, over 20 years later, while not a direct adaptation of Irvine Welsh’s Porno, the sequel novel to his Trainspotting, we have what amounts to a mostly enjoyable check-in with the same characters. While T2 Trainspotting may not be willing enough to stick to capturing a sense of the moment like the first film, it does work best when it allows for perspective to settle in on this older crew of former junkies and criminals.
Continue reading ‘Boyle Cooked Up Another Solid Round With The ‘Trainspotting’ Crew (Movie Review)’
March 16th, 2017 by Aaron Neuwirth
It can be mean, alienating and condescending to tell something they don’t “get” a movie. Terrence Malick, a filmmaker who has gone from reclusive and rarely making films to prolific, yet still reclusive as a person, seems to be making a conscious effort to challenge the notion of understanding cinema. His recent output has maintained a level of focus in terms of key characters, but still plays as challenging works of art that feel practically like what dreams could look like on a more grounded level. Song To Song falls right in line with Knight of Cups and To The Wonder, let alone a part of the fallout that came from his magnum opus, The Tree of Life. The results are once again oblique and bound to divide audiences, but that hasn’t stopped Malick from standing as one of the most original voices currently working.
Continue reading ‘The Full Modern Malick Effect Continues In ‘Song To Song’ (Movie Review)’
March 16th, 2017 by Brandon Peters
In 2016, director Peter Berg and star Mark Wahlberg teamed for a pair of action-oriented films base on real life big headline stories trying to display American heroism. The first was Deepwater Horizon, focusing on the 2010 oil spill and the other was Patriots Day that was about the bombing at the 2013 Boston Marathon and hunt for the terrorists behind it. Patriots Day came out in a limited fashion in 2016 and was spread more wide in early January. Maybe it was too early for this one or just too much else to see, but despite good reviews, the film failed to connect with audiences and underperformed. Its now maybe hoping to find audience at home with its 4K UHD Blu-ray release, coming on March 21st. You can check it out early via streaming and digital, but physical is always the preferred method of delivery and you can ensure yourself a copy on release day by pre-ordering from the Amazon link provided below. Continue reading ‘Patriots Day (4K UHD Blu-ray Review)’
March 15th, 2017 by Brian White
Passengers is a film that I have a lot of history with personally speaking. The original script for Passengers was written by Jon Spaihts way back in 2007, and had been in development hell for years now. I mention this because not only have my own projects been in development hell, but this very script was my first read in a screenwriting class I took at Cleveland State University way back when. I remember this time period too because at one point the film was set to star Keanu Reeves and Emily Blunt. God this movie would have been fantastic with Emily as the leading female. Eventually in 2014 it it was announced that Sony had won the auction for the rights to the sci-fi flick and here we are. It’s 2017 and Passengers came out theatrically last year, but more importantly it’s finally here in 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray! Continue reading ‘Passengers (4K UHD & 3D Blu-ray Review)’
March 15th, 2017 by Aaron Neuwirth
This June, Criterion will bring three of the most beloved classics of French cinema to Blu-ray for the first time with a newly restored edition of Marcel Pagnol‘s Marseille Trilogy, a sweeping saga set in the author’s native Provence that tracks the lives and loves of its characters over the course of a generation. A legend is born in The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog, the silent serial-killer thriller that Alfred Hitchcock considered his true debut, which is accompanied in our release by Downhill, another variation on the “wrong man” theme that the Master of Suspense returned to throughout his legendary body of work. Nicholas Ray kicked off his own renowned career with They Live By Night, a lyrical film noir that would be imitated by decades of lovers-on-the-run thrillers to come, now on Blu-ray for the first time. Dustin Hoffman stands his ground in Sam Peckinpah‘s notorious shocker Straw Dogs, presented in a new 4K transfer with extensive features that explore the film’s production and controversies. And not to be missed: Kenji Mizoguchi‘s Ugetsu, an indisputable classic of world cinema and perhaps the finest achievement of the master whom Jean-Luc Godard called “quite simply one of the greatest of filmmakers.”
Continue reading ‘Straw Dogs, Hitchcock’s The Lodger and More Coming to The Criterion Collection in June 2017′
March 15th, 2017 by Bron Anderson
Becoming Bond is a funny and intriguing blend of documentary and reenactment based around the story of the one-time James Bond, George Lazenby. The story is told by Lazenby in interview and some parts are filled in with actors in the style of the television series “Drunk History” to add some visual comedy to these over-the-top tales. The film succeeds at both helping to clear up the rumors behind what led to Lazenby only playing the iconic role in a single film and being a kind of origin story of the man himself as he retells nearly his entire life in amazing detail and honesty. Being a Bond fan is not a prerequisite for having a blast with this film, which will be on Hulu later this year. Continue reading ‘Becoming Bond (SXSW Review)’
March 15th, 2017 by Aaron Neuwirth
With Disney currently raking in enough piles of money to put Scrooge McDuck’s Money Bin to shame, it seemed like only a matter of time before audiences would get a live-action re-imagining of one of their modern classics. Beauty and the Beast is special for many and it represents a high water mark for the Disney Renaissance. Given how well the live-action remakes of The Jungle Book and Cinderella turned out, one could justify the existence of this latest film quite easily. However, the reverence for this relatively recent (1991) classic seems to have been part of its own undoing. While confidently made and enjoyable enough, this beast seems to have little going on underneath the surface.
Continue reading ‘‘Beauty And The Beast’ Has Humans Again, But Only Adds So Much (Movie Review)’
March 14th, 2017 by Bron Anderson
Having only seen one of director Ben Wheatley’s (Kill List) films before, I had a distinct skepticism about the idea of waiting in line for his next release, Free Fire. The premise of a gun deal gone wrong didn’t really promise much in the way of depth and I knew from his previous work that he had a talent for veering off in completely unnecessary directions in his films, leaving them a disappointment. This film is not a disappointment. It is a tightly directed, charming, funny, and playful action comedy with a great cast and superb sound mixing that remains completely entertaining all the way up to the end. Continue reading ‘Free Fire (SXSW Review)’
March 14th, 2017 by Brandon Peters
Get ready for “big, big fun” (Max Evry, Coming Soon) when the “perfect family film” (Mike Reyes, Cinemablend) MONSTER TRUCKS revs up on Blu-ray Combo Pack April 11, 2017 from Paramount Home Media Distribution. Get in the driver’s seat two weeks early with the Digital HD release on March 28.
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Continue reading ‘MONSTER TRUCKS Comes To Blu-ray April 11th!’
